Holcim Ltd. cleared one of the last remaining obstacles to its $47 billion merger with Lafarge SA last week when its shareholders approved the issuance of new shares to pay for the deal, reported The Wall Street Journal.
At a special shareholder meeting in Zurich, roughly 94 percent of Holcim’s shareholders voted in favor of the issuance of up to 264 million new Holcim shares, setting up a tender offer that will begin in early June. Lafarge stockholders will get nine Holcim shares for every 10 Lafarge shares they tender.
Holcim and Lafarge hope to create a globe-spanning building materials giant with combined revenue of roughly $35 billion and operations in 90 countries. The companies expect the deal to close by the end of July.
The two companies have received approvals from most of their big markets, including the U.S., European Union and India. They’ve struck agreements to sell billions of dollars’ worth of plants and operations – including a roughly $7.3 billion deal with Ireland’s CRH PLC – as part of their efforts to win regulatory approval.
